Practical education in chemical engineering has drawn increasing attention in recent years. This paper discusses two approaches to teaching and learning about experiments among upper-level chemical and pharmaceutical engineering majors in China. On the basis of years of experience in teaching chemical and pharmaceutical engineering, we propose the IGD (inspiration, guidance, and discussion) and the DRR (discovery, reasoning and research) approaches, which integrate experiments of different types: basic, comprehensive, custom designed, and innovative. Custom-made equipment, a pipeline-installation training program, and a simulation practice are also discussed; these were effective in improving students' practical skills.